Jose Flores\

Non-Fiction Response Analysis

“Should the U.S. lower its drinking age?”
1. The main idea of this text is that the drinking age should not be lowered and that
underage drinkers are a major cause of accidents and pregnancies.
2. The connections i can make between this and other articles is that they both talk about
how the drinking age should not be lowered because underage drinkers are the worst kind
of drinkers there is.
3. The author's purpose is to inform the reader that the underage drinking is bad for the
community and the people around them. The author uses words like “decreased”.
4. The audience is the people who vote for the laws to be changed or dropped or add the
laws. I know because they are talking about a form of women who refute the idea that the
drinking age should be lowered.
5. The most relevant details the author uses is that the raising of the drinking age to 21
lowered the deaths of car crashes by drunk drivers.
6. The most prevalent in this writing is logos. First of all the author states that, “​A recent
study in New Zealand​, which lowered its drinking age in 1999 from 20 to 18, found that
drivers aged 18 or 19 now face a higher risk of being involved in alcohol-related crashes
that cause death or injury” (Griggs). Secondly, “ ​One found that​ among young drivers
(ages 16-20) killed in car wrecks, the percentage with positive blood-alcohol levels
declined from 61% in 1982 to 31% in 1995 -- a bigger decline than for older age groups”
(Griggs). Finally, “​ ​The ​NHTSA estimates​ that raising the national legal drinking age
from 18 to 21 has saved more than 500 lives each year” (Griggs).
7. The three quotes in question 6 helped me find out that the theme is “A sober person can
save a lot of lives”.
8. This text helped me address the topic in the text by giving me statistics and actual deaths
by car crashes of drunk drivers.
9. I wouldn't change anything it was a good article.
10. The MLDA should not be lowered. It shouldn't be lowered because then there would be
more deaths and with the MLDA the same it would save so many lives. According to
Brandon Griggs, he states that, “The ​NHTSA estimates​ that raising the national legal
drinking age from 18 to 21 has saved more than 500 lives each year” (Griggs). This
means that with the MLDA the same it would save more lives every year. So the MLDA
should not be lowered because it wouldn't be a great way to expand the number of lives
saved.